Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe on Florida School Shooting: ‘No More Thoughts and Prayers, They Ain’t Working’

The school shooting in Parkland, Fla. last week continued to shine a spotlight on the debate of whether more gun legislation is needed. The public outcry continues, with many weighing in on the topic, including Lamb of God's Randy Blythe.

The vocalist started by bringing up the "thoughts and prayers" response often offered by politicians when it comes to expressing their sorrow over yet another school shooting. "No more 'thoughts & prayers,' please," said Blythe. "You can take those & put them towards something that only God, fate, random chance, the universe, whatever you believe/do not believe in can affect -- they might do some good there."

He continued, "Instead of 'thinking & praying,' here’s a CONCRETE ACTION you can take -- you can contact your legislators & DEMAND that there be some reasonable, common-sense gun law changes. DEMAND IT, & KEEP DEMANDING IT. Most of the American people, including a lot of gun owners, want this. Why isn’t this happening? How many more kids have to die until WE THE PEOPLE get fed up enough to force the government to do something? The time for 'thoughts & prayers' is long past -- it’s a slap in the face of people who continue to die as a result of crazy people armed with LEGALLY obtained high-powered semiautomatic weapons."

Blythe adds, "Weapons that are designed for JUST ONE THING -- killing human beings. I grew up in the country, with guns in the house -- these were shotguns, used for hunting. You don’t use an AR-15 for hunting deer, you use it for hunting MEN, or (apparently) CHILDREN. The lunatic shooter in Florida is 19 years old & can’t buy a six pack of beer by law because our society doesn’t believe he is mature enough to handle it, but he LEGALLY obtained a deadly weapon of war designed to inflict as many casualties as possible from a single person wielding it, & he used it to wage war on CHILDREN. What does this tell you about American society? Some people don’t like the term 'assault rifle.' Ok, cool -- why don’t we call them 'Kid Killers' then? Is that a little better? Can we get a little KID KILLER control happening? Is it still 'too early' to start talking about getting these KID KILLERS off the streets? Are the students who survived the massacre in Florida & who are publicly begging us, the adults in charge of things, for gun law reform 'politicizing' the whole thing? Is it 'too early' for THEM to bring it up? Should we just tell them to shut up because they are children & don’t understand adult matters, stuff like why crazy people can easily buy assault rifles & then SHOOT THEM DEAD in the classroom? NO MORE THOUGHTS & PRAYERS -- THEY AIN’T WORKING."